A Comparative Analysis of Freeway Design in Portugal and Mexico

• Main Authors: Lígia Conceição, Carlos Rodrigues
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade do Porto 2017-01-01
• Series: U.Porto Journal of Engineering
• Subjects: Transport Policy; Expressway; Public Works; Deregulation; Road Building; Construction Policy
• Online Access: https://journalengineering.fe.up.pt/article/view/71

Freeways typify accessibility, which is a parameter related to the development of a country. A developing country, such as Mexico, is concerned with an emergent construction market of freeways, which has been a target for Portuguese construction companies since the Portuguese economic and construction crisis in 2008. In the earlier stages of a freeway project, the ubiquitous use of software calculations along with geometric standards restrictions is performed automatically and may introduce loss of sensitivity to the designer. This paper addresses this concern by presenting a Standards comparison between Mexico and Portugal, focusing on the elements of design and a comparative multi-criteria analysis adapted from Kalamaras et al. (2000). Through six case studies, this paper analyses the Standards’ influence on the horizontal alignment outcome, the radial uncompensated accelerations and the Brückner curves, concluding with the multi-criteria analysis results.